As a 20-year Costco member, there are clearly many things I love about the store. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t keep paying a membership fee year after year.
Some of my favorite Costco membership perks are the bulk savings, the cheap food court eats, and the option to bring back virtually any item for a full refund.
But there are certain things I don’t like about Costco — the crowded parking lots, the requirement to scan a membership card on the way in, and the long lines to get out of the store once you’ve filled up your cart.
And I’m certainly not the only person who feels that way.
In a Reddit thread, Costco members highlighted the sometimes awful experience that is checking out at the store.
“While 90-95% of the customer experience is swell, it’s that last 15-20 mins that is among the most painful in any retail store I can think of,” one user said.
“I thought the self checkouts would help but without a scanner gun at each station it’s pretty much impossible for most people to work through those lines in a timely manner,” said another.
It’s clear that long wait times at checkout are a huge pain point for members. Thankfully, Costco is finally taking notice.
Costco makes key move to fix long waits at checkout
Costco’s executive team is hardly clueless when it comes to member satisfaction, or a lack thereof. The company goes to great lengths to offer low prices on the products it sells and excellent customer service.
But Costco also knows that improving the checkout process is essential to member satisfaction and retention. And the company is now taking major steps to address that issue.
During Costco’s Q2 2026 earnings call, CEO Ron Vachris said, “In the warehouses, we are achieving meaningful improvements in the speed of checkout and employee productivity, both as a result of our mobile wallet enhancements, pharmacy pay ahead, and the rollout of employee pre-scan technology.”
Now, if you’re a long-time Costco shopper, you know that pre-scanning isn’t a new thing. But that’s not the only step Costco is taking to get members out the door faster once they’re ready to check out.
Related: History of Costco: Company timeline and facts
Vachris also said during the company’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call, “We are also piloting automated pay stations that will allow members to pay for their pre-scan orders seamlessly with an average transaction time of around eight seconds. Early results show this is improving the flow of traffic, and we have received great member feedback.”
That, frankly, could be huge.
If Costco is able to whittle the average transaction time down significantly, it could be the key to retaining members – and attracting new ones.
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Checkout speeds are important to consumers
The fact that Costco is focusing on speeding up checkout is important given that many consumers make shopping decisions based on how fast they can get out of a store once they’ve loaded up a cart.
A good 68.5% of retail workers regularly deal with frustrated customers, with long wait times cited as the top cause of customer dissatisfaction, according to Waitwhile. And 60% of customers have reported leaving a line before it’s their turn due to growing impatient.
Meanwhile, 80% of consumers say they’ll avoid going to a certain business completely because of long lines.
This is consistent with data from Forrester Research and Digimarc, as reported by Supermarket News, which found that:
- 50% of shoppers say the checkout experience is “very important”
- Only 23% of consumers are satisfied with the amount of time they spend checking out when shopping for groceries
More Retail:
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Costco relies on membership fees to boost revenue. And let’s face it — those fees are basically free money.
But if customers aren’t satisfied with wait times, they may not renew or continue to shop at the store. So it pays for Costco to invest in a better checkout process, especially if the company wants to continue growing its membership base.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.
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